WHEN ADAM SINNED

The earth was cursed and that which was from the earth was doomed to return to it (Genesis 3:17-19). Remember how carefully Genesis identifies man as formed from “dust of the ground” before [God] “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2: 7), and Ecclesiastes’ assertion that “the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Apostle Paul later observes that “sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED.” (Romans 5:12)

Is it the sin of Adam that causes all humans to sin? If we answer an unqualified “Yes” to this, we encounter two key challenges. Firstly, what then caused Adam to sin? Secondly, do people sin involuntarily?

In what way therefore did sin and death spread to all humans?

Apostle Paul explains this in terms the Lord Jesus Himself hints at as, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41), when he says, “nothing good dwells in me, THAT IS IN MY FLESH. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” In other words, drawing strength from his flesh part alone makes him powerless against sin, and his spirit part is horrified at the consequences!

Our makeup as humans therefore includes a part of us, the flesh, which left on its own would not obey God, and ultimately be injurious or counterproductive to us. The writer of Hebrews is careful to point out that Our Lord Jesus Himself had such a part, when he writes, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things ... He had to be made like His brothers in every respect ... He Himself suffered when tempted ...” (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Yet we also have a second part, our spirit, or the part of us that acknowledges God and His ways as right. If we assert that, rather than give our flesh free control of us, we would not sin. Sin is therefore not an unconscious or involuntary act. It is abandoning ourselves to the appetites of the flesh rather than asserting the spirit unto obedience to God, for, “with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)

So when Adam was tempted, he was required to assert his need to obey God, indeed, “offer his members to God as instruments of righteousness.” He rather gave free rein to his fleshly appetites, and desire produced sin and sin death. (James 1: 15). James asserts that that we can be tempted does not mean that God is to blame for making us this way. It is up to us to do what it takes (even if obedience unto death, Philippians 2:8) to walk rightly before our Maker: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is tempted and lured by his own desire.” (James 1:13-14)

Therefore, the capacity to succumb to temptation did not come to humanity just because Adam disobeyed God. He had that capacity before he sinned, and so do we all. If we abandon ourselves to the flesh as its slaves, we sin. However, if we assert our spiritual capacity, valuing obedience to God even above our lives, we will walk in righteousness and not come under God’s condemnation. 

CONCLUSION

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if a wicked person turns from all his sins that HE HAS COMMITTED and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” (Ezekiel 18:20-21)

#BibleBriefs